8.4

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled in 11/2015. Slight gusher, but not bad. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 2 finger dense and rocky light khaki head with amazing retention, that reduces to a large cap that lasts the whole glass. Thick soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big milk chocolate, cocoa, caramel, vanilla, cream, toffee, bourbon, toasted oak, brown sugar, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of coconut, coffee, smoke, and roast/toast/oak earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malt and bourbon barrel notes; with great strength. Taste of huge milk chocolate, cocoa, caramel, vanilla, cream, toffee, bourbon, toasted oak, brown sugar, and dark/brown bread; with lighter notes of coconut, coffee, smoke, and roast/toast/oak earthiness. Light roasted bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk chocolate, cocoa, caramel, vanilla, cream, toffee, bourbon, toasted oak, brown sugar, dark/brown bread, light coconut/coffee, and roast/toast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt and bourbon barrel flavors; with a nice roasted bitter/sweet and bourbon/oak spiciness balance; with zero cloying/acrid flavors after the finish. Medium-high carbonation and medium-full body; with a very smooth, creamy, silky, velvety, and rich mouthfeel that is awesome. Minimal chalky roast, oak tannins, or dryness. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 6.9%. Overall this is an incredible BBA American stout! All around fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt and bourbon barrel flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the very mildly bitter/tannic finish. Perfectly integrated barrel complexities from all 4 bourbon barrels. Very rich malt complexity for the modest ABV, without being acrid or overly roasty. The elevated carbonation seemed to smooth out the mouthfeel and make it feel very silky/lush, which was interesting. A highly enjoyable offering. This held up amazingly well for the ABV for being almost 2 years old.